Political Viewpoint - Leigh-on-Sea

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Leigh On Sea News: Political Viewpoint – BY James Miller Leader of Southend’s Confelicity Party.

Political Viewpoint - BY James Miller Leader of Southend’s Confelicity Party.

BY James Miller Leader of Southend’s Confelicity Party.

“CANCELLING elections should only happen under extreme circumstances, not due to budgetary concerns or poor planning.”

“Sign our petition to ensure Southend Councillors do everything in their power to retain our right to vote in the 2026 local elections. The deadline is May 8th.”

There is no guarantee from Southend’s Labour leader that our local elections in 2026 will take place. This uncertainty is due to the undemocratic implementation of devolution and local government reorganisation – something I do not support in the form it is being presented as we go from 180,000 people to 400,000 in a new super council.

I cannot see how this empowers local people as we all become more remote from a smaller group of councillors and officers, and in somewhat contradiction, I have recently announced my intention to stand as Mayor of Essex as a means to offer at least some kind of genuine locally-minded representation.

As a resident of Leigh, you will know how important local elections are for shaping the future of our community; just look at controversies surrounding Leigh Town Council. The issues that matter in Leigh – preserving our beautiful coastline, improving local infrastructure, parking and protecting the character of our town—are often decided by the choices we make at the ballot box.

After Labour and Conservative councillors in Essex County Council voted to cancel their elections, with central government’s approval, I felt compelled to urge Southend’s councillors to ensure our elections go ahead as scheduled.

To do this, I set up an e-petition to ask our councillors to fight any attempt to cancel the elections.

I initially struggled with the process, being told Southend councillors had no power to stop it and that only central government could intervene. This baffled me, as Essex councillors had the right to vote on this matter, but after some back-and-forth, the petition is now live: https://southend.moderngov.co.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=99&RPID=0&HPID=0

Petition Progress: Since publicising the petition, I hoped Southend residents – including those in Leigh -would recognise the importance of keeping the elections.

However, despite sharing it across social media, the response has been disappointing. The petition needs 100 signatures to be considered by the Cabinet, and while it’s almost there, it’s clear that this issue isn’t resonating as I expected.

If the petition doesn’t gain more traction soon, it will make it easier for those seeking to cancel the elections to justify their decision. If I were on the opposing side, I’d use this lack of support to argue that Southend doesn’t care about the elections.

The Importance of Democracy: Despite its flaws, democracy is vital. Southend Confelicity, a fledgling Independent and locally-focused political party, believes that such parties can broaden debate at the council and it is very obvious why we want the elections to go ahead.

However, even if Confelicity did not win a single seat, the principle of holding elections remains essential.

Democracy, despite its monumental flaws, is the best system we have. It is manipulated, corrupted and often produces horrendous results (depending on your point of view), but I don’t think it is a stretch to say it is the one thing that stops us from potential anarchy.

Granted, I doubt very much cancelling local elections would cause any such anarchy, but all the same, the only way politicians are forced to listen to us is knowing they will face the consequences at the ballot box.

Labour’s Unpopularity and the Push for Cancellations: Labour’s push to cancel elections raises suspicions. Their declining popularity suggests they are seeking to avoid what is likely to be a significant loss in 2026 due to numerous well-publicised nonsensical decisions. The recent adaptations to the law, allowing cancellations (or ‘postponements’ as some like to say), make it easy to accuse them of being anti-democratic.

Conservatives are far from without fault, as their Essex councillors voted to cancel elections as well.

Yet, even if we loved the government, elections must still take place, and were Confelicity in power we would never dream to deny the public their right to vote.

The Excuses: Time and Money – Labour cites time and money as reasons for the cancellation. They argue that if the structure of Southend City Council is changing soon, holding elections seems pointless.

With costs of up to £500,000, the suggestion is the money could be better spent elsewhere. However, no amount of money should justify stripping us of our right to vote for those who represent us, and Labour should have considered the impact on democracy before pushing through the devolutionary changes.

The Need for Elections: A recent report that Southend Labour secretly discussed building 10,000 homes on the Bournes Green Chase greenbelt further illustrates why these elections must go ahead. This decision, which will affect areas like Leigh as the town’s resources will be stretched further, is exactly the kind of issue where our votes matter.

Cancelling elections should only happen under extreme circumstances, not due to budgetary concerns or poor planning.

Our right to vote is the foundation of our individual power. Denying us that right chips away at our ability to influence local decisions. We may feel powerless when casting a single vote, but without that vote, our power vanishes.

Take Action: I urge Southend residents, particularly those in Leigh, to take two minutes to show their support for democracy by signing the petition to ensure our councillors do everything they can to guarantee the 2026 elections go ahead as planned. The deadline is May 8th.

The argument is that any new councillors would only be in place for a year or two, but as we know local elections in Southend are held yearly (aside from a fallow year), so that really should not matter. And though the timetable for devolution has now been published, right now there is no guarantee it will go ahead meaning we may not know when the next election will take place and councillors will remain in their positions long after their time was up.

I have since written to our MPs to lend their support, and whilst I respect their reasoning, I was disappointed they were unable to do this.

This issue is now only in our hands and I hope very much you will lend yours to what is a far more serious matter than we might realise.